Japanese national Satoko Kishimoto won ward of 500,000 people after shining in online political debates

A Japanese woman who until recently was a long-time resident of Belgium has been elected as mayor of a district in Tokyo after coming to prominence through online political debates during the Covid pandemic.

Satoko Kishimoto, 47, who has lived in the Belgian city of Leuven with her husband and children for a decade, is due to take over in July as mayor of Suginami city, a ward of 500,000 people, more than 5,800 miles away from her family’s home in the eastern Belgian city.

This article was amended on 27 June 2022. An earlier version mistakenly reported that Satoko Kishimoto won her Suginami city mayoral campaign while living in Belgium.